Combination place mat and napkin



July 28; 19 70 w; ELTHRASHER 3,

COMBINATION PLACE MAT AND NAPKIN Filed Aug. 2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i i i l i i i-4-l P4 INVENTOR. WILBERT TH RASHER July 28, 1970 w. E. THRASHER 3,521,746

COMBINATION PLACE MAT AND NAPKIN Filed Aug. 2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet a INVENTOR. WILBERT E. THRASHER BYW ATTORNEY.

Patented July 28, 1970 3,521,746 COMBINATION PLACE MAT AND NAPKIN Wilbert E. Thrasher, 14421 SW. 288th St., Leisure City, Fla. 33030 Filed Aug. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 749,645 Int. Cl. B65d 79/00 US. Cl. 20647 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination place mat and napkin which are readily separable from each other. This arrangement provides a very substantial saving of labor in commercial applications, convenience, and sanitation in the serving of food in both public places as well as in the home. This invention also has an excellent novelty appeal.

It is well known that particularly in restaurants considerable time and effort is consumed in pre-staeking napkins and place mats for later distribution to individual tables by waitresses and other help. Frequent droppage or shifting of these stacks necessitates duplicate effort.

An important object of the present invention is to save the time and labor necessary to make such setups.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a simple arrangement for the convenience of the customer.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive combination which is cheap to manufacture and will also minimize the amount of handling necessary.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a combination place mat and napkin which can be combined in a package form with a knife, fork, spoon, drinking straw or similar utensils with added convenience for the user. Another packaging of transparent film such as cellophane or polyethylene could bear advertising imprinting.

It is readily apparent that my invention could be made of various qualities of paper or similar material to obtain the lowest cost of manufacturing. One important consideration is that normally a napkin and a place mat are of different grades or thicknesses of paper and of different degrees of absorption.

A complete disclosure of my invention is shown in the following description and accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 shows the simplest form of my invention in top plan view showing the place mat and napkin combined.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of my invention.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the same form of my invention as in FIG. 2 but with the napkin lying flat on the place mat.

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of another form of my invention.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the form of my invention shown in FIG. 4 with the napkin in folded over position.

FIG. 6 shows an elevational view of another form of my invention with the place mat and napkin unfolded.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the form of my invention shown in FIG. 6 but with the napkin and place mat partially folded.

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of my invention in combination with utensils in a pre-packaged rolled up form.

Referring to the form of my invention shown in FIG. 1, the place mat 1, is attached to napkin 2 by a separable line 3 which may be either perforations, serrations, heavy creasing or similar means of imprinting the paper. The

napkin 2 is folded on fold lines 4 as shown in FIG. 2 and the entire napkin 2 can be normally folded flat on the place mat 1 as shown in FIG. 3. In the form shown in FIG. 3 the combination of the place mat and napkin can be readily shipped and handled in a minimum of space and a maximum of convenience. Alternate stacking, i.e. napkin right, napkin left, etc. would facilitate packaging.

In FIG. 4, another form of my invention is shown in which a place mat 5, is combined with a napkin 6, by means of a separable line 7, which can be perforations, serrations, etc. The napkin in the form of my invention shown in FIG. 4 is a double thickness napkin which is folded along line 8, and then may be folded along lines 9 in a similar manner to the form of the invention as shown in FIG. 2, or it may be simply laid flat by folding along line 8 as shown in FIG. 5, for ease in shipping the napkin and place mat can be simple folded along line 7, so that the entire double napkin 6, lies either on top or below place mat 5.

In the form of my invention shown in FIG. 6, a double place mat 10 is combined with a napkin 11, the place mat is folded along line 12 so that it forms a double thickness place mat as shown in FIG. 7, at the same time napkin 11, is folded first along line 13 and then along line 14, if desired so as to make a more compact type of napkin similar to that shown in FIG. 2. The place mat 10 is illustrated with scalloped edges 15, this scalloped edge is a pleasing ornamental effect which can also be used in the other forms of my invention.

Another aspect of my invention is shown in FIG. 8, where a combination place mat and napkin 17, which can be any one of the foregoing forms of my invention, can be wrapped up and used to enclose utensils 16, such as spoons, forks, knives, or drinking straws. If the utensils 16, are made of inexpensive paper, plastic, or similar material, the entire unit as shown in FIG. 8, can be prepackaged and prepared and used for picnics, for drive-ins, restaurants, cafeterias, etc. This would be particularly advantageous for use in hospitals where the problem of sanitation might occur.

A particular consideration in connection with the present invention is the fact that normally napkins must be of a highly absorbant and lightweight material whereas place mats are normally of a less absorbant and heavier weight material. The least expensive method of handling this would be to use a medium quality paper which would be suitable for both the napkin and the place mat and thus make them both of the same material with the consequent saving, in cost of manufacture.

However in order to obtain a somewhat more acceptable product various devices could be used, for example during the manufacturing process before the final .stamping or cutting of the place mat and napkin combination from the roll of paper, or sheets of paper or other material from which the combination is to be made, the place mat portion could be heavily embossed, in this way a pleasing texture could be given to the place mat portion which could be quite different from that given to the napkin portion. The napkin could be embossed with less pressure or over a lesser area and therefore remain more absorptive. Also a diflerent design of embossing could be used so as to minimize the sticking together of the napkin and place mat when they are folded and stacked.

Another method of achieving this result would be to start with a medium quality paper and then pass the place mat portion through calender rolls. This would apply a high gloss by compressing the paper to a high density and therefore make it more resistant to absorption.

Another method that could be used to obtain the same result would be to spray the place mat portion with a thin film of plastic material on the side which would be the underside of the place mat when in use. Another variation of this in the form of my invention shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, would be to spray the plastic on the two surfaces of place mat 10, shown in FIG. 6, and use a plastic or adhesive material which when the place mat 9, was folded over, the two surfaces were now face to face as shown in FIG. 7, the plastic or adhesive material would stick and give a substantial body to the place mat as well as making it more water proof than would otherwise be the case.

Another variation, though involving a slight additional production cost, could be the insertion of a thin plastic foil, or non-absorptive grade of paper product between the upper and lower layers of the place mat portion.

During the process of embossing or stamping the place mat, not only could a variety of textures of the place mat be made available but also printed material or ornamental colouring design could be placed upon it.

The entire combination can of course be printed with various advertising designs etc. It would be desirable to print directions along the separation line which has previously been mentioned, such as tear here or detach here.

It will be apparent from the above description that various forms of my invention can be used which will vary from the simple one quality of paper form shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 to the more elaborate form shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 and with either one quality of paper for the entire combination of the place mat and the napkin or with an appreciably heavier quality of paper for the place mat accomplished by treatment of the place mat in various manners as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A combination place mat and napkin fabricated in one piece from any appropriate sheet material and comprising a first main body portion forming said place mat and a second main body portion removably attached to said place mat portion and forming said napkin, said first main body portion consisting of substantially nonabsorbent material and said second main body portion consisting of substantially absorbent material.

2. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 1 in which said napkin and place mat portions are removably attached along a tear line forming one side edge of said place mat and one end of said napkin, said material along said tear line being weakened to provide for ease of separation of said napkin and place mat portions, said combination place mat and napkin forming individual units.

3. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 1 in which said napkin portion is composed of two substantially equal longitudinal sections, the first of said two sections being removably attached to said place mat portion along a weakened tear line forming one side edge of said place mat and one end of said first section of said napkin, the second of said two longitudinal sections being connected to said first longitudinal section along a longitudinal fold line to permit it to be folded over said first section in an overlying relationship therewith to form a double thickness napkin.

4. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 3 in which said double thickness napkin is divided into a plurality of substantially equal portions by a plurality of parallel fold lines, said equal portions being adapted to be folded along said parallel fold lines into a stack with the equal portions overlying each other and said stack being adapted to be folded among said weakened tear line to overlie said place mat and be confined within the outline of said place mat.

5. A combination place mat and napkin fabricated in one piece from any appropriate sheet material andcomprising a first main body portion forming said place mat and a second main bod portion removably attached to said place mat portion and forming said napkin, in which (a) said napkin portion is composed of two substantially equal longitudinal sections, the first of said two sections being removably attached to said place mat portion along a weakened tear line forming one side edge of said place mat and one end of said first section of said napkin,

(b) the second of said two longitudinal sections being connected to said first longitudinal section along a longitudinal fold line to "permit it to be folded over said first section in an overlying relationship therewith to form a double thickness napkin, in which (c) said double thickness napkin is divided into a plurality of substantially equal portions by a plurality of parallel fold lines, said equal portions being adapted to be folded along said parallel fold lines into a stack with the equal portions overlying each other and said stack being adapted to be folded among said weakened tear line to overlie said place mat and be confined within the outline of said place mat, in which (d) said parallel fold lines are formed in a manner to permit said equal napkin portion to be folded in accordion fashion, in which (e) said place mat portion is composed of two substantially equal place mat sections, the first of said place mat sections being removably attached to said double thickness napkin by said weakened tear line and being connected to the second of said place mat sections by a second longitudinal fold line, said second longitudinal place mat section being adapted to be folded along said second longitudinal fold line into an overlying relationship with said first place mat section to form a double thickness place mat.

6. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 5 in which said place mat portion is calendered to apply a high gloss thereto by compressing the paper to a high density.

7. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 5 in which said place mat portion is sprayed on one side thereof with a thin film of plastic material.

8. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 5 in which the abutting faces of said first and second place mat lsections are sprayed with a thin film of plastic materia 1 A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 5 in which the abutting faces of said first and second place mat sections are sprayed with an adhesive material to bind said sections together to give a substantial body thereto as well as to make the place mat more Water proof.

10. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 5 including the insertion of a sheet of thin non-absorbing material between said overlying first and second place mat sections.

11. A combination place mat and napkin as in claim 5 in combination with utensils wrapped therein and enclosed in a substantially tubular package.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,102,203 6/1914 Scott 20658 3,326,365 6/ 1967 Neureither et a1. 20658 FOREIGN PATENTS 100,671 8/ 1923 Switzerland.

MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner 

